


Babysitting Aid

by electrictoes



Series: Ianto Jones' Adventures in Babysitting [1]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Family Fluff, Jack being Jack, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-07-21
Updated: 2009-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-15 12:47:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28938732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/electrictoes/pseuds/electrictoes
Summary: Ianto's got a small child to look after. And Jack can't stay away for a whole weekend.
Relationships: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones
Series: Ianto Jones' Adventures in Babysitting [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2122491
Kudos: 6





	Babysitting Aid

**Author's Note:**

> This for [](https://tazza-di-jo.livejournal.com/profile)[tazza_di_jo](https://tazza-di-jo.livejournal.com/)'s birthday. She requested Jack and/or Ianto babysitting, and this is what she gets! Huge amounts of thanks to [](https://hanily.livejournal.com/profile)[hanily](https://hanily.livejournal.com/) for the beta :)

**Title:** Babysitting Aid  
**Characters/Pairings:** Jack, Ianto. Jack/Ianto.  
**Rating:** PG  
**Spoilers:** Character only spoilers for Children of Earth; Day One.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Torchwood. Anything you recognise is the property of the BBC.  
**Summary:** Ianto's got a small child to look after. And Jack can't stay away for a whole weekend. **  
****Author's Notes:** This for [](https://tazza-di-jo.livejournal.com/profile)[**tazza_di_jo**](https://tazza-di-jo.livejournal.com/) 's birthday. She requested Jack and/or Ianto babysitting, and this is what she gets! Huge amounts of thanks to [](https://hanily.livejournal.com/profile)[**hanily**](https://hanily.livejournal.com/) for the beta :)

Ianto took Mica’s bag from her as she wandered through his flat, heading straight for the living room and flicking the television on. She dropped down in front of it and began channel flicking almost immediately. Ianto smiled to himself, if all she wanted to do was watch television, this would be a far easier weekend than he had anticipated.

Rhiannon had called him two days ago to ask if he would watch Mica. Johnny was taking David away to a rugby tournament for three days and Rhiannon was visiting their Aunt Doris up in Carmarthen and neither of those activities seemed like something a five year old girl would enjoy, and so Rhiannon had requested his babysitting skills. Well, he said requested, more told him in no uncertain terms that if he wasn’t able to babysit Mica then he would have to actually take his turn at visiting Doris so that she could stay at home with her daughter. Ianto had been very quick about asking Jack for time off and calling Rhiannon back.

He put Mica’s bag on the bed in his spare room and walked through to the living room, sitting on the sofa and watching her watch the television. After a moment or two she turned to look at him. “You’re staring,” she said.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, not used to being scolded by small girls.

“How come you don’t have an X-box or a Playstation or anything?” She asked.

Ianto shrugged, “I work a lot.”

“Your flat’s boring,” Mica told him, turning back to the TV. He pulled a face, but he did have to admit she was right. It wasn’t all that entertaining for an adult, never mind a child, but Mica and David never visited and Ianto wasn’t even there himself all that often. When he was, he was usually too tired to care much about what games consoles he did or didn’t have, and if he had any energy at all, it was soon stripped from him by Jack, who didn’t care much about games consoles either.

“Well, we’ll have to find something fun to do,” he said, although he was hoping that Mica would come up with some ideas of her own because he didn’t have a clue where to start.

Mica didn’t make a sound, she was far too engrossed in the television. He leaned back on the sofa silently and let her watch her programme in peace. She turned to him when the adverts began. “Uncle Ianto?”

“Mica?”

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

He glanced over at his niece and frowned. “Uh… no. No, I don’t.”

“Why not?” Mica asked, moving closer to him. “You should.”

He helped her climb up onto the sofa to continue her questioning and he gave her a small smile. “I don’t want a girlfriend, Mica.”

“Why?”

“I think we should find something to do, don’t you?” He asked and stood up, glancing around the room for things that a five year old might find entertaining. Coming up short, he decided that going out would be the best option, anything to distract Mica from this line of questioning. He wasn’t ready to tell Rhiannon about Jack, never mind have her find out from Mica that her only brother was sleeping with a man.

He was just helping Mica on with her coat when he heard a key in the lock and saw bright blue eyes and a wide grin making their way towards him. “Hello,” Jack said, still grinning.

“Jack,” he said, glancing down at Mica who was regarding this new visitor with interest. “What’re you doing here?”

“Well, I know you wanted the weekend off for a family thing, but I thought I’d swing by and see if I could catch you before you left.” He looked at Mica. “And who’s this?” Jack frowned. “Something you want to tell me?”

Ianto felt suspicious eyes on him and it took him a moment to process what Jack was obviously thinking. Mica was, admittedly, young enough to be Ianto’s daughter and he had perhaps been a little overly secretive about what he was doing this weekend, but then, he hadn’t wanted Jack to become too involved with his family, distance would be better for them all in the long run. He smiled at his lover and ruffled Mica’s hair lightly, “This is Mica.” He gave Jack a pointed look. “My niece.” Mica looked up at him and he smiled at her, too, “Mica, this is Jack. He’s a friend of mine.”

“Hello, Mica,” Jack said, a smile filling his face, “Where are you off to?”

“Somewhere that isn’t boring,” Mica told him.

“Oh, right.” He looked from Mica to Ianto then back to the small girl. “Can I come?”

Ianto sighed. “No, Jack, you’ve got things you should be doing.” He wasn’t sure he wanted Jack in his life this way, wanted Jack to be a part of the things he did with his family. They were together, of course, he was happy in their relationship, but he wasn’t ready to face his family and until they knew that he wasn’t quite straight anymore, he didn’t want Jack getting to know Rhiannon or her children or anyone else in his family, even Aunt Doris.

“Oh, please, Uncle Ianto?” Mica asked, pouting slightly. He sighed again and nodded reluctantly.

As Mica skipped out of the door Ianto put a hand on Jack’s chest. “Please behave. I don’t want her going home on Sunday telling her mum things.”

“What things?” Jack asked, his expression as close to innocent as Jack Harkness ever got.

“About you… and me…”

“Oh, right.” Jack looked at him for a second. “They don’t know, do they?”

“Not now, Jack.” He said and walked out of the door, taking Mica’s hand as they walked down the stairs and out of his building.

When Jack joined them on the pavement Mica held out her other hand for him to hold and they walked along the street like that for a while, no one really sure where they’re going. As they walked, Jack turned to look at Ianto, “I don’t get why you have so many hang ups,” he said. “I don’t care who you tell or don’t tell, but why are you so bothered what other people think?”

“They’re not just people, Jack, they’re my family. And where I come from, hang ups are normal.”

“Twenty first century morals never cease to amaze me,” Jack said, and Ianto rolled his eyes.

“Mica, what would you like to do?” He said, because it gave him something to do that wasn’t justifying himself to Jack.

Mica shrugged and clung to Jack’s hand. Ianto smiled, the Harkness charm seemed to be effective on the entire Jones family. Jack bent down to Mica’s level and whispered something in her ear. She nodded enthusiastically and Jack was soon hoisting her into the air and settling her on his hip. Ianto watched as Jack pressed a finger to her lips and winked before setting off down the street. Ianto increased his pace to keep up with them, worried about what Jack might be up to.

They ducked into a coffee shop and Ianto followed, joining them in the queue. “Jack, what’re we doing in here?”

“What do you think?” Jack asked and placed Mica gently on the floor. Minutes later Ianto found himself being receiving both a coffee and a kiss from his lover. He opened his mouth to scold Jack, who shook his head and laughed. “Drink that, might cheer you up.”

“I don’t need cheering up,” Ianto said, but he drank the coffee all the same. They left the coffee shop, Mica skipping a short way ahead of them, and Jack seemed to have taken control, telling Mica when to stop at the road and when to turn left or right. Ianto wasn’t really paying attention to where they were going and so when they arrived at the toy shop he just blinked. Jack shot him a boyish grin and Mica practically squealed with excitement. Ianto decided now would be the moment to step up to being the cool uncle Mica wanted to spend her weekend and not some miserable bloke her mum had dumped her with. He threw his coffee cup into a nearby bin and bent down, seizing Mica around the middle and carrying her giggling into the shop. He put her down in a section filled with toys in every shade of pink he could possibly imagine and grinned at her. “Go on, pick something. Anything.”

Soon Mica was running from shelf to shelf, amazed by the choice around her. Ianto made no attempt to rush her, just wandered around with Jack, keeping her in his sight. She was having fun and as long as she was entertained, he was happy. He looked at Jack. “This was a good idea.”

“You sound surprised.”

Ianto gave a non-committal hum and fiddled with a toy car on the nearest shelf. He turned to look at Jack, who was watching him with curious eyes, as though this was the first time he had really looked at him. “Why are you here, Jack?” He asked, his voice quiet.

“To spend time with you. To get to know your niece.”

“Why though?”

Jack tugged on Ianto’s hand and threaded his fingers through his. “Because, believe it or not, you matter to me.”  
  


Ianto held open the door for Jack, who was carrying a sleeping Mica in his arms, and watched as his lover moved through the flat with the air of a man who had done this before. He didn’t question that, though, just followed Jack silently through the flat, his heart swelling a little as he laid Mica on the bed and smiled down at her sleepy form. He stepped back then, indicating that Ianto should take over, and he did. Jack backed out of the room and Ianto sat on the edge of the bed, carefully undoing the Velcro on Mica’s trainers and slipping the shoes from her feet.

He was aware of Jack’s eyes on his as he carefully coaxed Mica into a sitting position so that he could remove her coat and he was conscious of being watched as he threaded his fingers affectionately through his niece’s hair as her head dropped to the pillow. He pulled a blanket over her, not wanting to wake her enough to get her to change into pyjamas.

It had been a lovely day really. Mica had had a wonderful time and Ianto had to admit that that was down to Jack, Ianto hadn’t been sure how to pass the time with the small girl, but she had loved Jack instantly and he was full of ideas. After the toy shop they had gone to McDonald’s and then to the cinema and bowling, before Jack took them to a pizza restaurant, where Mica had began to drop off to sleep. She had succumbed entirely in the taxi on the way back, with her head in her uncle’s lap and her hand clinging to Jack’s arm. She was worn out, but she had seemed to enjoy herself, and would have plenty to tell Rhiannon about her weekend, some of which it was probably about time she heard.

He kissed Mica’s forehead gently and whispered goodnight as he slid from the room. Jack tugged him into his arms as he pulled the door shut. “Going to tuck me in now?” He asked, a grin on his face. Ianto found himself rolling his eyes.

“You can’t stay the night,” he said, but he was aware of the regret in his tone.

Jack nodded and drew Ianto’s lips to his. “Worth a try though.”

“Thanks Jack. For today.” He led his lover to the door, giving him a firm kiss goodnight. They stared at each other for a long moment, neither moving. Jack didn’t want to leave and Ianto didn’t want him to go, but Rhiannon was going to pick Mica up in the morning and if Jack was here he would have more to explain than just Jack’s presence in his life.

Jack seemed to read his thoughts. “I’ll leave first thing,” he said, and brought his lips to Ianto’s. “It’s been good today, being part of your family.”

“I want you to be part of it, Jack…”

Jack smiled, a proper smile that reached his eyes, and pulled Ianto into his embrace. “Then I’ll stay.”

Ianto was fairly sure that Jack wasn’t just talking about tonight.  



End file.
